About this project

$21,337

pledged of $20,000 goal

102

backers

Sweet Bar Bakery

Help downtown Oakland get its first artisan bakery!

I have been a baker for almost 3 decades and I bake for
everyone. Fluffy chocolate
cakes. Chewy ginger molasses
cookies. Pumpkin muffins with
tart, sour cranberries. Savory
semolina and rosemary scones.
Rich,
delicious baking traditions combined with organic, fair trade and local
ingredients. Sweet Bar Bakery pays the
same attention to ingredients that many chefs in high quality restaurants do: source local and seasonal, seek out organic and fair trade for international items. For example, locally roasted chocolate (in that fluffy cake), organic
dairy, fruit from local farmers, and organic and heirloom grains - there is even
organic, whole grain flour being grown here in Northern California! Of course there are options for
vegan baked goods (that ginger molasses cookie) and gluten free (the above named pumpkin cranberry muffin).
We’ll make you a cappuccino with organic milk, or you can choose soy or almond
milk. We balance simple classic cooking
with the best organic and artisan ingredients we can find.

Well, we WILL do all that just as soon as we are open! That’s where you, and KICKSTARTER come
in. I am excited to define the
concept for Sweet Bar, put together a video and offer super-fun rewards for our
Kickstarter supporters. Check out
the fun gifts: from a muffin and cappuccino on the house, all the way to a
private baking lesson. My favorite
will be the muffin mania—for $135 or more you will get a muffin named after you
for a whole week! Your name, your
nickname or name it after your favorite TV star. “Hey, I’ll take a half dozen Ralph Kramden muffins to go”!

We need money for, well, everything. Used mixers (they’re the best), electrical and plumbing,
building a beautiful pastry and food display counter so you can oogle and swoon
over the baked goods. We are about
half way there and are appealing to the Kickstarter world to kick us into the
next phase of getting Sweet Bar renovated and open.

In 1990 I opened Mani’s Bakery, an artisan bakery in Los
Angeles specializing in desserts made with 100 % organic flour and natural
sweeteners such as fruit juice and maple syrup. We baked cakes and muffins for decadent sweet lovers, vegan
cookies and pies, also wheat free and even fat free (it was the 90’s!).

I left that company in 1997 and traveled north to the bay area. I had several years doing product development, learning about honey from the National Honey Board and teaching culinary students how to taste, appreciate and cook with varietal honeys. I even became a beekeeper and still have an active beehive in my backyard! I wanted to start a bakery around 2006,
but I had the opportunity to become Executive Chef at Just Desserts, a legendary
San Francisco company founded in 1974. It was a daunting task, to take on product development for a much beloved bay area bakery.
The past 6 years have been an amazing learning experience and it
has been my privilege to be able to create the next generation of Just
Desserts products!

They say it's all about timing---right now, the music, art, food and bar scenes in Oakland are
booming. And it is all centered
around the Uptown district. Two
gorgeous, renovated Art Deco Theaters.
A monthly art walk called, Art Murmur, that surpasses any art walk
anywhere, seriously. In the center
of it all is a corner I have found to call home, a former Ice Cream and Candy factory!

In summer 2012, Sweet Bar will breathe new life into the
historic MacFarlane’s Candy and Ice Cream building at 24th and
Broadway. And this time, the quality and source of the ingredients will be as
important as the taste.

We will be open from 7 am - 11 pm, with baked goods, pies,
cupcakes and fruit tarts, corn meal waffles and savory frittatas, locally roasted coffee from Mr. Espresso/Coffee Bar
and house made chai, sandwiches, salads and soups at lunch, micro-brewed beer
and California wine at dinner, plus small plates and savory snacks.

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $60 or more
About $60

NEW REWARD!!!
Add your name to the Sweet Bar Wall of Sweet Hearts on our website for ALL ETERNITY and at the Grand Opening Party! Plus, an invitation to a special VIP Kickstarter supporter party with Desserts Galore!!!

Kickstarter is not a store.

Pledge $400 or more
About $400

Work with Chef Mani to create the flavor of muffin you want named after you! ( Rich and Decadent? Whole Grain? Gluten Free?) Then host a muffin madness brunch with you and three friends featuring YOUR muffin. ( Two dozen muffins and a dessert extravaganza mailed to you if you aren't nearby).